Ferrari make key decision on Lewis Hamilton race engineer after awkward first year

Ferrari F1 team have made a decision regarding Lewis Hamilton's race engineer for the 2026 season, according to reports in Italian media.

Riccardo Adami has been working as Hamilton's race engineer since the seven-time world champion joined the outfit last January, but the pair have had several awkward encounters since then.

At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton seemed bemused by a lack of information coming from Adami, while the Miami GP saw Hamilton tell the team through Adami to 'have a cup of tea' after he was angered by the fact that he wasn't being let through by Charles Leclerc.

Then came the Monaco GP, when it had appeared as though Adami had blanked Hamilton when the Brit had asked 'Are you annoyed at me?' However, that was later cleared up with Ferrari suggesting that Adami had already left the pit wall at that stage.

Team principal Fred Vasseur suggested at the end of the season that Ferrari would be reviewing Hamilton's close team in order to try and get more performance out of the 40-year-old, and it appears as though they've come to a decision on Adami.

According to Italian publication Auto Racer, Ferrari have decided to keep Adami as Hamilton's race engineer for the 2026 season after what they call a 'very positive' dinner between Hamilton and Adami.

Ferrari are looking to make real progress in 2026 due to the incoming regulation changes, and Hamilton in particular will be desperate to improve his form in what is thought to be the final year of his current Ferrari contract.

Hamilton's 2025 season

While the relationship between Hamilton and his new team certainly didn't help the seven-time world champion in his first season, he will need to evaluate his own performance levels during the winter break.

Hamilton finished sixth in the drivers' championship in a struggling SF-25 car, but he was a mammoth 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the same car.

For the first time in his career, Hamilton endured a whole season without a grand prix podium while Leclerc secured seven, and his qualifying performances left much to be desired, particularly towards the end of the season.

Hamilton will head into 2026 on a run of three consecutive Q1 exits, in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and he will be desperately hoping to banish that record as quickly as possible in the new year.

READ MORE: Shock Sauber move for Lewis Hamilton revealed

Related